


Clouds on the Horizon

by RadioBoy



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Touch-Starved, both megs and op are oblivious to their feelings, megop - Freeform, op never really gave up on megatron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16033919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadioBoy/pseuds/RadioBoy
Summary: Optimus had learned that the Earth had its ways of changing things, but would it be enough to change sparks? Touch starved, he finds himself gravitating towards his enemy, even if that "touch" is combat.





	Clouds on the Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually write, but I love this ship enough to try, anyway. Special thanks to my gf for helping me with ideas and for supplying me with gay energy <3

Thunder cracked in the distance. As a remarkably tall metal being, it always made Optimus feel uneasy. Not that he ever told anyone. He knew that they wouldn’t think less of him if he did, but, something about it didn’t sit right with him. As his wheels hit the black asphalt, he thought of everything he had to protect. Not only from physical harm, but also from damage to the minds of those who relied on him. There had to be someone that at least gave the impression that they knew what they were doing, that wasn’t afraid. It gave people hope, and to him, it was worth all the comfort in the world. Another flash of lightning put him on edge. 

It was lonely, he had to admit. You go your whole life wishing you weren’t under someone, that you were the one in charge. You get what you want, and next thing you know, there is no backup plan, you are the backup plan, you are who people go to when all hope is lost. He didn’t feel as wise as people said he was, he didn’t feel prepared. How could he stand in the place of those that had come before him when he, himself felt like an imposter? His whole life had felt like one long bluff to the universe, one that he couldn’t keep up forever. 

A drop splattered on his windshield. As good as he was at controlling his movement in his alt-mode, he absolutely hated driving in the rain. It didn’t take much at all for his wheels to lose traction and it made him feel like a newspark trying to drive for the first time. Normally, he would have asked Ratchet about the weather, who loved to explain it in great detail, to which he would often need further explanation. However, today had been different. 

For once in his life, the world wasn’t ending. The Decepticons were suspiciously quiet, Ratchet’s equipment was down for repairs, and the kids were at school. He had found himself without work. To anyone else, this would be a blessing, but to Optimus, the silence on that humid spring morning was deafening. It was so much easier to be himself when he was busy, when he could act. But now he was idle, and was forced inward. 

There was nothing to stop him from thinking of his life and the people in it. Those that he had just met, those that had been with him from the beginning, those that he missed. A million years isn’t a long time, he had found out. As much as he tried to ground himself in the present, it was if no time had passed at all, as if the whole war had been an evening. It was hard for him to believe how much the Earth could change in a short span of time. Everything about Earth was fast, the lives, the weather, could all change in a single day. In comparison, most Cybertronians were stuck in their ways. You had to be, to live for so long. Had he lived in the kinetic chaos of Earth for all his years, it would have seemed like an eternity. 

Now that he thought about it, it must be why they were still at war even after all this time. The practical part of him that had kept him alive all these years feared the atmosphere of Earth, that it would continue to escalate the conflict, that its influence would bring on their destruction faster. But, the rest of him couldn’t help but wonder if the transience could do them good, if it could ever change sparks like it changed seasons.   
Ratchet had recommended the drive. “Optimus, you need to get out of here,” he said firmly, carefully moving a maintenance panel aside. “It just isn’t good to spend all day brooding like that, ‘s not healthy.” He looked less severe and smiled. “Doctor’s orders, alright?” 

“Very well, I suppose I could survey the area outside,” Optimus said, cracking a grin. He ex-vented deeply and made his way to the main tunnel until Ratchet called to him. 

“I promise the base isn’t going to explode if you relax, Optimus. Remember that.” 

Who would have known the drive would have been more disturbingly introspective than the base? He especially regretted it once raindrops began sprinkling with more frequency. The bridge was down and he was nowhere near close enough to the base to get back before the rain got intense. In all honesty, he didn’t have the emotional stamina to deal with heavy rain. As if on cue, he noticed a cave not far off from the dusty road. There was no use in getting stuck in the rain if he didn’t have to deal with it. It’s not like there was anything interesting back at the base, anyway. 

By the time he got to the mouth of the cave, the rain had already started coming down at a steady pace. He was splattered with mud and sand, but he would be fine. It was hard to be irritated by some dirt when it was absolutely pouring outside. To his relief, the cave was dry and more than tall enough to accommodate him while standing. He kept walking until the downpour was nothing more than a gentle rustle in the distance. The tunnel he had been walking in gave way to an even larger open area. Even to him, the ceiling seemed high for a cave. Based on the scaffolding along the sides, he assumed the humans had started from the top and slowly excavated downward. He considered searching it more thoroughly, but, if there had been any energon deposits, they would have picked them up on the scanners by now, especially since it was so close to the base. He was so busy looking up at the structures above that he failed to notice the red optics in the distance until a familiar growl came from the shadows. 

“Optimus Prime!” Megatron shouted, stepping out from another tunnel. “The gods must have brought you to me, I don’t know what other reason you would waste time in this cave.” The prime prepared to attack, but was stopped by the Decepticon creeping towards the center of the dusty room, seething with barely contained rage. “There’s no need for theatrics, Optimus. We are the only ones here,” he said, disarming his weapons.

“What do you want, Megatron?” even in dim glow of his headlights, he could see him closing in. He considered transforming and fleeing, but he knew as soon as he started running, Megatron would break his casual facade and chase him in earnest. This was not an ideal time for a fight, and he knew it was foolish of him, but what was his other choice? Lead him back to the base and risk the lives of everyone else? 

“Do you know what I am? Without my weapons, without my army, without dark energon?” he stopped a few yards short of him and sneered. “I am a warrior, a king. What are you, Optimus? Without your pathetic friends, without your weapons? Will you die a coward’s death, or will you show me?” Optimus was wary, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He carefully laid the ion blaster on the ground and scooted it away from the fight in case his opponent had any ideas. Megatron seemed surprised by his compliance, but only for a moment before he returned to his usual sinister smile. “I will reward your courage with an honorable death, Prime.” 

He wasn’t sure which one started running first, or who made the first blow. But he did know, that he sunk into the battle like a reflex. This was easier than ideology, than war, than asking questions. This was what he had done for millions of years ever since his life changed. Even before then, isn’t this what they had done? He recalled the last argument they had before the war, were they doomed to relive it every time they met? Then, it was words, words meant to hurt. Now, it was a swing, a tackle, an advance, a retreat. As much as they tried to surprise each other, it always ended the same. A dance, the same useless argument. He watched the other as he moved, with equal parts grace and fury. Just from his stance he knew what was coming, but this time, he did nothing to stop it. 

Optimus was knocked from his feet and onto his back. As the air was pushed from his vents, he could hear Ratchet telling him that he’s not a young mech, anymore. He wasn’t quite that fragile, yet. All it took was a moment of focus, he pulled his knees back to his face and sprang forward to his feet, meeting Megatron face to face, who seemed surprised, before a look of realization dawned on him. 

“Optimus, you old slagger, you’re showing off.” he said. Optimus was wearing his mask, but his smile was still obvious in his eyes. Megatron wasted no time in kicking him in the side, but he didn’t wipe that goofy look off his face even as he was staggering backwards. “I taught you that move, you were awful at it.” 

Megatron’s guard was down and Optimus landed a solid hit to his faceplates. “Maybe you shouldn’t have.” he said, matter-of-factly. This put him back into a rage. “You may have been built for fighting, Megatron, but I had to rebuild myself from the ground up to do what I do. What does that make you?” The Decepticon growled at charged at him, knocking him to the ground once more, only this time, Megatron went down with him. He wasn’t about to let him get up again. 

“YOU!” he shouted, pinning his shoulders into the dirt. “You can hold your own in a fight, you are strong, you are clever, even. You could very well best me in a fight, if it were it not for the weakness of your spark.” Optimus tried to push him off to no avail, all he could do was stare into the burning red optics of his enemy. He expected hatred, rage, murderous intent. What he wasn’t ready for was the frustration in his brow and the look in his optics that seemed to search for answers in his own. The expression didn’t last long before Megatron let off of him and stood quickly to his feet, regaining composure. “You may be a fighter, Optimus, but you’re no warrior.” He had assumed he would continue fighting, but instead he kept walking. “You’re not worth my time, today, Prime,” and just like that he was gone. This haunted Optimus more than anything he could have said as he laid on the dusty floor.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading chapter 1! I hope to roll out the next one soon. Lately I've been job searching and cleaning up the house, but I try to find time to write at night.


End file.
